The Beginning
by RedDesertPhoenix
Summary: Started as a remake of Ocarina of time, but is now moving in a different direction Or would be if it was moving
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: While this story is mine, all the characters and places within are the property of Nintendo.  
  
RATING: This chapter has a rating of MA15+. It has extreme violence, and supernatural themes  
  
AUTHORS NOTES: This is my second Zelda story. And my first complete one. I'm really really happy with this one. Think it's one of my best stories. Anyway, read it and tell me what you think. You can email me at RevengeoftheLurch@hotmail.com  
  
SUMMARY Naten meets up with Zink and Lelda, his grandkids and goes off to fight evil. On the way, he meets a beautiful woman with wonderful eyes who can beat him with a sword, is smarter than Zelda and has more magic than Gannon. But isn't a Mary Sue, honest. ;)  
  
Seriously? Summarizing it would spoil it. Read it for yourself.  
  
THE BEGINNING  
  
The full moon shone over the edge of the lost woods, painting the tree's silver with the light. Patches of silver grass swayed back and forth in the breeze as some of the moonlight made it's way through the canopy. The track winding through the tree's had as little light on it as the grass. The gnarled old trees, the grass, the track. The gentle clip clop of the horses hooves, the occasional soft neigh. The occasional jingle of metal on metal. all these things Naten had seen before, but set in silver and black by the moonlight, the whole scene seemed magical. He looked around in wonder as his mother hurried him along beside him. He didn't understand why his mother had told him they were going on a picnic in the middle of the night, or why they required so many bodyguards, but he was too excited to care. His eyes were wide as once familiar images turned surreal in the moonlight. It seemed as though any minute some mystical creature from the legends his nurse told him would walk out from behind a tree. His nurse bent over to say something softly in his mother's ear, and they nodded and quickened their horses pace to a canter. He looked at his nurse beside him, and up at his mother behind him. They didn't look happy. They had said it was a special picnic, but they didn't look very happy at all. They kept looking nervously at the shadows, and behind them. They even looked scared. Naten frowned. "Nurse? Mummy? What's wrong?" He said, worried. His nurse looked at him, a worried expression upon her face. "Hush Naten." She smiled nervously. "We're going for a picnic. Just be a good boy, and be quiet till we get there." Naten looked at her, uncertain. "Are you scared because of the dark?" His nurse looked at his mother for a second, exchanging a look he couldn't understand. Then she laughed nervously at him and nodded. Naten stuck out his chest. "I'm here to protect you. Don't be scared." His nurse laughed at his words, and patted him on the head. Once more, he started looking around him in wonder. Unnoticed, the two woman's faces once more regained their worried expressions.  
  
It was half an hour later, and Naten was getting tired. He had been woken up in the middle of the night for this ride, and his energy had worn out. He watched the forest pass by through half closed eye's as he leaned against his mother. The gentle clip clop of hooves against the ground lulling him into a half stupor. The silver tree's passing by one after the other. Naten watched them pass, thinking of them. That tree, the one with the hollow was interesting. The hollow looked like something lived in it. It passed. He searched for another interesting tree.  
  
That tree over there had a nest in it. A sparrow nest. He knew because his nurse had shown him what a sparrow nest looked like. He liked his nurse. She knew a lot about woods. The tree passed. He looked again. That tree over there. It had a girl sitting in it. She seemed about Natens age. Naten watched through half lidded eye's as the horses slowly made their way past the tree. The girl looked back. She seemed sad. They traveled past the tree. Naten looked for another.  
  
Leyak looked at Naten as he slowly fell asleep in his mother's arms, and smiled, despite everything. She had been chosen as his guardian when she was only fifteen, and had looked after Naten since he had been born. He was like a son to her. The son she never had the chance to have. It was an honor to be selected as the nurse for Kakariko's heir, but she had often thought there had been some mistake. She had always secretly thought that she was far too young to be taking care of a child, let alone make it her living. She had thought the Dream of Seeing she sometimes had were not reason for her to be a good nurse. She had never seen how the Dream of Seeing could help her be a better nurse in the least. Never until tonight, anyway.  
  
Barely had her head hit the pillow before the dreaming had started. In her minds eye, she could see an ocean of darkness to the west, in the dry hilly country held by the western savages. A patch of darkness had separated itself from the ocean, and sped across the land towards Kakariko village. The darkness was led by a single sick purple point, which radiated power. Once it arrived at Kakariko, the darkness spread through the town. Into every house. And as each house was entered, the occupants died. The darkness killed them. Once the townsmen were destroyed, the darkness surrounded the lords manor. Then the purple thing entered the manor seeking to destroy them, only to find it empty. And the darkness left the town at great speed. At this point, Leyak had awoken. It had all the feel of a Dream of Seeing, and for once, she had had no doubts. For some reason beyond her knowledge, the Lady had not doubted her when Leyak had told her. Had not even questioned her. She had just ordered some servants to pack a few supplies and ready their horses, and set off within an hour. Leyak was still having trouble believing it. She had not asked the Lady why. One did not question ones boss. Before they had left, the Lady had sent a messenger to her husband in Lon Lon fort. Leyak had a feeling it would do no good however. The Dream of Seeing was never wrong. And in it, she had seen the castle fall.  
  
The forest around her made her nervous. She disliked traveling so close to the Lost Woods. She had heard rumors that all who entered the Lost Woods never returned. She had heard tales of dead men walking. Of trails which disappeared behind you, and of tree's which fed off your blood. All these were rumors, she knew. But in the silvery light of the moon, anything seemed possible. And no one ever traveled far into the woods. Strange monsters were the least of her worries, she thought, looking nervously around. She hadn't been sure if they had evaded the darkness in her dream. If it hadn't found them in the castle, it would be searching... She went back to scanning the shadows for enemies, her fear tightly under control. Until one of the shadows moved, that is.  
  
She barely had time for a warning before their band was assaulted. Shadowy figures came in from all sides, thrusting long spears into the horse's sides. The night erupted in the sound of the horse's screams. Half the horses dropped, slick black blood erupting from their wounds. The shadows fell back as the horses rolled, and crushed their riders. More of the bodyguards dropped. With the gloom created by the moon and the trees, all she could make out of the attackers were moving shapes, and the occasional flash of a body as it moved through a moonbeam. She reached into her bag, but felt her horse shudder under her, before it collapsed with an almost human shriek of pain. Years of experience on a horse took over, and she rolled expertly off, grunting as she felt something thud into the side of her. She compensated for the blow, and landed on her feet. She closed her eyes and flung the Deku nut she had grabbed blindly in front of her. There was a deafening boom, and a flash so bright it hurt her eyes even with them shut. Her attackers dropped their swords, and clenched their eyes or ears and in pain. The few bodyguards remaining had also been stunned however. Leyak used their distraction to turn around and see how her charge was going. She turned, and saw one of the attackers standing over the Lady, and time seemed to slow.  
  
She saw the Ladys horse, lying on the ground, frothy black blood bubbling out of its mouth as it tried desperately to breath. The Lady, hunched protectively over her son. A flash of moonlight hit the attacker, and Leyak recognized the woman as one of the western savages. With a curved rapier in one hand, the woman was smiling in anticipation. She bent forward and pulling the Lady to her feet by her hair. Leyak could see everything clearly. The moonbeam was now focusing on the Lady. The whole scene was like one of the wall hangings she saw hanging on some of the walls. Just silver and black. The tip of the sword being placed against the back of the Lady's throat was silver. She could see half the savages face. The shadows cast by her features pure black. She could see the Lady, for once in her life not composed, but with silver tears welling in the corners of her eyes, and looking at Leyak with a wordless plea. And Leyak just stood there. A moment past. The woman smiled again. A lone tear ran down the Lady's cheek. And then the western woman slid her sword through the Lady's neck. If time had seemed to slow before, it seemed to almost stop now. Sounds became muted, and all disappeared but the scene before her. A awful bubbling sound as the Lady tried to breath. A stream of black making it's way down from where the sword came through the Ladys neck. The black slick shine on the savages sword as she pulled it free. The Lady falling forward, hands moving to the bloody wound in her neck, and gurgling as the blood ran into her lungs. Naten lying huddled in the path of the falling queen. And a little girl watching from the trees. The girl seemed to sense Leyaks eye's on her, and turned to stare at her. The woman attacker turned her face towards Naten, Leyak transferred her attention to the attacker again, and with a sudden rush, time returned to normal. Leyak's sword was out before she had thought about it, carving the attacker in two. The shriek of one of their own in pain seemed to draw the attention of the half blinded attackers, and they rushed towards her, waving their swords clumsily. While Leyak was a competent swordsman, there was only so much she could do. Taking on a group of these devil woman and surviving wasn't one of them. Another Deku nut blinded them again, and she grabbed Naten from beneath his dead mother and started running through the woods before they recovered. Dodging round trees, tripping over raised roots and running into low branches, the two fled from the butchers. They heard sounds of pursuit, but they quickly faded. They didn't dare to stop though. They were quite soon out of breath, but they continued, deeper and deeper into the woods, seeking the sanctuary of the darkness within.  
  
An hour later, and Leyak was exhausted. They were now moving at a snails pace, slowly inching their way forwards. Here, the trees grew thicker, and blocked out almost all the sunlight. Leyak had slowed her pace to almost a crawl, her eyes unable to see in the little light passing through the canopy high above. There was no grass, only leaf litter, and the gnarled roots of trees. There were luminous fungi everywhere, but none provided enough to see by. Everything was almost pitched black, except for the glowing blobs of fungi. Occasionally balls of light would fly past her as some glowing insect did whatever it was insects do. Leyak was past thinking about it. She had bruised her knees constantly from tripping over tree roots, and had discovered she was bleeding badly from a wound in her side she had no memory of getting. Naten was following her, crying softly. He also sported bruises from tripping over multiple times. But he hadn't once complained. He had just suffered silently.  
  
Leyak stumbled again, and cursed. She would have stopped long ago, but every time she did, she thought she heard something. The rest of the time, the forest was deathly quiet, but every time she stopped, she sensed something moving. She wasn't even sure if it was the attackers anymore. Sometimes it had seemed to be in front of them. Sometimes to the side. Leyak was sure that if it was the attackers, they would have finished her off a long time ago. She was also sure the western woman couldn't have been able to keep up with her. But whatever it was, Leyak was sure its intentions were no better than the attackers. So she kept moving. Kept stumbling forwards. Kept walking. As exhaustion slowly took, awareness faded. It became a matter of just taking one step after another. Holding onto Naten. Waiting for him to stand again when he stumbled. Taking another step. And another. Slower now, Leyak kept moving.  
  
The young girl watched as the Sheikah woman stumbled again. The wound in her side had been bleeding a lot more in the last half hour, and the young girl doubted the woman would be able to rise again. Yet despite the pain, despite the exhaustion, the Sheikah woman slowly made her way back to her feet, leaning against a tree for support, Instead of continuing on though, this time the woman didn't leave the support of the tree. She just stood there for a minute, blood running down her legs, expression set in a mask of determination. She just stood there, before slowly falling back to her knees, then collapsing onto her back. The young girl sighed in satisfaction. The boy stood next to her, his own eyes dull with exhaustion. He just stared at his collapsed guardian for a second, before laying down next to her, and almost instantly drifting off to sleep, grateful that the long walk is over, and he can finally rest. The young girl watched as the Sheikah lays there, her lifeblood slowly seeping into the forest floor. Returning nurturance to the soils. The young girl watched as her skin slowly pales, and her breathing slows. The young girl watched from the shadow of a tree, and waits for the Sheikah woman to die. And the young girl smiled.  
  
Naten woke slowly. He felt like he was waking from a nightmare. All around him was quiet. He couldn't here anything. He opened his eyes, slowly, and saw mist. There was a thick mist everywhere. And in the mist, there were glowing insects flying around. Some of the bigger insects were the size of a small bird, and had a trail of smaller insects copying their every move. Naten turned his head to follow one in wonder, and the insects scattered. Sighing, he looked through the mist, trying to see what else there was. All he saw were trees. Nothing but trees. Huge trees. He couldn't even see any leaves, unless you counted the ones on the ground. He couldn't even see the ground for all the leaves. He looked up. All the leaves were at the top. In the canopy. And it was so far away. It seemed as though he was in a huge building, surrounded by wooden pillars to hold the roof up. He looked around slowly. All the trunks seemed very old. They all had moss growing on one side of them. And they all had really big roots. And a lot of strange things growing on the sides of them. And there really wasn't any ground anywhere. it was all dead leaves. He looked around. And his eye's came to rest on his nurse. She was lying there. So very still. And she was covered in dried blood. Naten got up slowly, and walked over to her. "Nurse?" he said to her still form. "Nurse? Wake up." But she didn't move. He fell to his knee's, and hugged her fearfully. A few tears leaked from his clenched eyes. He stayed there, hugging his nurse, tears soaking into her clothing until he started feeling better. Then a slight scuffle made him look up. There, leaning against a tree not five metres from him stood a girl about his age. Not the one from last night. This one had hair down to her waist. It was golden, Naten noticed. Like his. The girl was just staring at him in wide eyed wonder, hands held behind her back and rocking back and forth on her heels. She was wearing a green tunic. "Hey mister, what are you doing?" Naten just looked at her. She looked back. "Nurse died" he said finally, eye's still red from crying. "She was my nurse and I loved her and she always took care of me and... and..." tears started running down his face, and he started sobbing. The girl looked on for a second, and said "Why are you crying?" The sobbing boy didn't answer. The girl looked on, perplexed. Then shrugging her shoulders, she turned and walked back into the forest.  
  
An hour later, and increasing demands from his stomach pulled Naten back to reality. He slowly got to his feet, and dried his tears, and looked around for the girl from earlier. But she was long gone. So he slowly started walking, looking for berries, or nuts, or anything else in the forest he could eat. Half a hour later, and he still hadn't found anything. He couldn't even tell if he was wandering in circles. All the tree's looked alike. All there was were the tree roots, with the strange growing things on them, the tree trunks, the leaves far above, and the dead ones beneath his feet. The whole forest was starting to creep him out. It wasn't just the total silence. He kept feeling like something was following him. But every time he turned around, nothing was there. And he thought he had heard someone giggling several times too. But every time he'd run towards the sound, it had stopped.  
  
He heard it again. A childish giggle, off in the distance. Ignoring it this time, he continued on, trying to keep a straight line this time. He heard another giggle off to his left this time, and kept going. And then he heard one a few metres in front of him, and a boy stepped out from behind a tree, and looked at him. "You shouldn't have come here" He said gravely. Naten looked at him. "I'm hungry. Can you help me please?" He heard a giggle from behind him this time. The boy in front of him just looked at him. "You shouldn't be here." And he stepped behind the tree again. Naten ran after him. "Wait." He ran around the tree. But there was no one there. The boy was gone. Naten growled angrily to himself, and continued walking. He heard another giggle close by, but ignored it angrily. They'd made a fool of him, and he wasn't going to let them do it again. He just looked at the ground in front of him, and continued walking angrily. The giggling slowly died down, then stopped completely, leaving him to walk in silence again. Until he saw the girl from before standing in front of her holding out some large fruit for him. He walked up to her, and she put the fruit down and backed away, watching him with amusement in her eyes. "Thank you" he said, before picking up the fruit and biting greedily into it. Whatever the fruit was, it was sweet and juicy. Juice ran down his chin as he slowly devoured it. All the while, the girl just stood there, seeming to find some hidden amusement in watching him eat it. Once he had finished, he dropped the large seed to the ground, and wiped his sticky fingers and mouth on his shirt. The girl smiled at him, and ran into the forest. Naten chased her. "Wait." The girl ran for some time, keeping just far enough ahead for Naten to have to run to keep up. Occasionally she'd duck behind a tree and disappear, and Naten would run to the spot and start searching around. But then the girl would appear behind another tree, giggle, and run off again. After twenty minutes of this, Naten thought he could hear something at the edge of his ability to hear. Something besides the girls creepy giggles, and besides his own labored breathing. He continued following the girl, and it became more apparent. Just on the edge of his hearing, he could hear someone playing music on some sort of wind instrument. He continued following the girl until he was close enough to make out the direction, then started walking towards the sounds of the piping. The girl continued running for a bit, before realizing her pursuer was no longer following her. Naten ignored her, and followed the tune. It seemed to ring through the forest without fading in the slightest. He had followed the music for five minutes, and he seemed to be coming to a clearing in front of him. He was almost out of the tree's when the girl stepped in front of him with a curious expression on her face. "How did you come here?" She asked. "How did you find the sacred grove?" Naten looked puzzled. "Sacred grove? I was just following the music." The girl's expression widened in surprise. "You can hear the music?" she asked, disbelief in her voice. Then, to herself quietly "I better tell Sarah." She stepped behind a tree trunk. "Wait!" Naten shouted, and ran around the tree after her. But she was gone. Naten shrugged, and continued into the clearing.  
  
The first thing he noticed was it was no ordinary clearing. Naten hadn't noticed it much, but he had slowly been going downhill. The clearing took up an entire valley, as far as he could make out through the mist. And ahead of him were two walls. Like very small castle walls. With a gate between them. And floating clearly from the other end of the valley was the melody which had drawn him to the clearing in the first place. Naten walked up to the gate, trying to find some way past. The walls were very old, and so was the gate. They were at least a metre thick, and made from crumbling plaster. The walls had moss and small vines growing on it, and the gate looked rusted shut. On the other side of the gate there was another wall, making a corridor. Naten peered through the bars, and could just make out the corridor turning in the distance. Naten reached out to try and shake the gate, but it wouldn't budge. The gate might have been old, but it was still as solid as the earth beneath him, and he couldn't move it in the slightest.  
  
He tried looking around the clearing for some other way past the gate, and started following the walls towards the woods, seeing how far the walls went. He'd just about reached the tree's when he felt a subtle change in the air. He stopped for a few seconds, trying to work out what it was that was different, before realizing the melody had changed. It was barely noticeable, but now there was something different. Some new element. Or perhaps some old part of it had stopped. Whatever it was, it was somehow different now. He turned around, towards where the sound was coming from, and the gate was gone. Completely gone, as though it had never been. Somehow, it no longer bothered Naten. He just accepted it. Too many strange things had happened that day for a disappearing gate to bother him. So without as much as a cursory glance at the place the gate should have been, the boy walked past the gateway, into the corridor and towards the music.  
  
He found the corridors twisting this way and that. Above the walls, he could make out the tops of the tree's, but that was all. It was still eerily quiet, except for the soft sound of the piping. The mist was still quite thick, even though it was the middle of the day now, and glowing insects seemed to be attracted to this place. Whenever he stood still, he thought he could feel something watching him. And once, when he had turned around, the corridor he had just left was nothing more than a crumbling, vine-covered wall. The whole place gave him the creeps. Even more than the forest had. But he was hungry, and the music had something compelling about it, which made him continue to walk towards it. And the corridors he followed always led towards it, never away. Soon, he came to a wider corridor, which was actually paved. It had much thicker and higher walls, and led up the side of a hill with a series of steps.  
  
The piping sound was coming from directly ahead. Naten walked up the steps slowly, till he reached the top of them, and looked around. Even shell shocked, exhausted and hungry as he was, he still couldn't help being a little awed at what he saw. He was in an enormous courtyard, in front of a huge castle. Even though it had all the features of a castle, it somehow reminded him of the cathedral of ages he visited every time they travelled to Hyrule town. But this one was much larger. And was falling to pieces, he noticed. Much of the walls had collapsed, and there was no roof. The entire castle was covered in vines, and there were tree's growing alongside, and even in the castle. The entrance was on the second story, with stairs leading to it. But the stairs had long ago collapsed. The courtyard had several massive tree's in it, along with a few decomposing branches lying on the ground. The walls of the courtyard provided a lot of shade, and the walls and logs and trees were covered in moss. There was also a lot of ferns growing by the base of the walls.  
  
And the courtyard is was where the piping was coming from. The music was all pervading, and yet not deafening. The ever present glowing bug things seemed to dance through the air in time to it. Everything seemed to move with the music, its flow gently controlling everything around it. He looked around the courtyard for the source, and found nothing. He followed his ears, and came in front of one of the fallen trees. He could still see nothing though. He stopped looking, and sat down in something resembling despair. Ever since he had heard the music, he was sure the person making it would help him. But now he couldn't even find them. It was just one more mystery. He just stared at the log in misery, slowly letting the music wash over him. And as the music washed over him, he felt his misery slowly fade. After a while, the melody itself grew quieter and quieter, until Naten could no longer here it. It didn't feel like the melody had ended so much as become too quiet for him to here it. Naten looked up, and watched the place the piping had come from with disinterest. Although he looked like he was standing peacefully just looking at the log, he barely even saw it. All the days events were finally catching up with him. The disappearing girls. His wandering through the forest. The attack in the middle of the night. His mother's death. Tears started welling up in his eyes.  
  
He was lost in the middle of the forest, and he was hungry, and there was no one there to help him, and. Naten quietly sat down, and pulled his knees into his chest, becoming a tight little ball of miserly. And... His mother was dead. Tears started rolling down his cheeks. And his Nurse. He started rocking back and forward. His mother. His Nurse. Dead. A image of his mother collapsing to the ground, blood pouring from the wound in her throat, the Gerudo woman standing over her with a bloodied sword. Dead. Naten sat there, rocking back and forth with tears running down his cheek, as he tried to deal with his grief.  
  
Naten barely heard the piping start again. He noticed it was a different melody this time. Very soft and sweet. But he was paying more attention to how he was feeling than to the music. Regardless, he felt the music sooth him, washing over him in waves and relax him. The gentle bittersweet song reminding him of all the good times he had spend with his mother and nurse, and stopping him from dwelling on her death. All the picnics they had been on. The fencing lessons his nurse had taught him. The small sword his parents had presented him on his tenth birthday. Gradually, his grief eased, and was replaced by sadness, and at the same time happiness for all the good times he'd had. Lulled by the music, Naten drifted off to sleep.  
  
Hours later, Naten was woken by the play of sunlight across his face. He stretched, and yawned, and slowly looked around. With the realization that he wasn't in his bed came the memories of the day and the previous night. But where before the memories of the nights attack had left him grief stricken, now he felt like it had happened a lifetime ago. The death of his nurse and mother saddened him, but nothing more. As he looked around the broken down courtyard, he noticed the music had stopped again. Something about the log caught his eye, and he walked over to it to have a closer look. There was just something about it which didn't look right.  
  
He walked around it, staring at it from every angle, trying to work out what about it seemed wrong. Until he realized that part of the log seemed to resemble a girl holding a wind instrument to her mouth. And the more he looked, the more it resembled one. The ferns growing out the top looked like her hair. That moss could be the tunic she was wearing. And that knothole could be the eyes. And then the knot hole blinked, and the figure moved, and Naten saw the girl sitting in front of him, watching him calmly with the wind instrument in her hands.  
  
Naten looked at her curiously. The girl was wearing a green cotton tunic, and had dark green hair. Not having ever seen someone with green hair, Naten stared. Her hair was cut to just below the ears. And when she suddenly smiled at Naten, he noticed she was quite pretty.  
  
"Hello Naten" the strange girl said. "Do you feel better now??" Naten looked at her with curiosity. "How did you do that? And how do you know my name?"  
  
The strange girl looked at him. "I can't tell you that yet. I'm sorry that all this has happened to you. But some things cannot be prevented..." She seemed to loose track of where she was for a second, looked past him at the crumbling courtyard wall behind him. "And some things." The strange girl stared into space for a few more seconds, before bringing herself back to the present and smiling cheerfully at Naten. "Anyway, I'm Sarah. Nice to finally meet you." A bit nonplussed, Naten stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you Sarah. I'm Naten." Sarah looked at his hand curiously, before picking up a pack at her feet that Naten had failed to notice. "We have to go now." She said, turning towards the steps exiting the courtyard. "Go where?" The strange girl hopped off her log, and picked up a backpack lying at her feet. "To the Deku tree." She started walking towards the stairs leading down out of the courtyard. Naten made no move to follow, so she looked over her shoulder at him and smiled reassuringly at him. "Follow me. I'll answer your questions when we get there." Then she turned back, and started down the stairs. Naten hesitated for a minute, then followed her down the stairs and back into the maze below. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to go.  
  
Once more, the walls were in different places, and they followed a path leading straight out of the valley. Sarah seemed to be quite familiar with the area, and kept stopping and talking to the glowing bugs which flew around. Occasionally, they would chirp back, and she seemed to understand what they were saying. Once they had left the gateway, Sarah pulled out her instrument and played a short melody, and when Naten turned around the gate was once more blocking the way. Curious, he turned to look at it again, but Sarah was already about to enter the forest so he ran after her to catch up.  
  
Sarah waited till he had reached her, and spoke. "Stay close to me Naten, or you'll get lost". And with that, she walked into the forest. Naten shrugged his shoulders and followed. Soon they were once more walking between the massive trunks, the gloom of the Forrest now not so spooky to Naten now he had someone looking after him..  
  
Pretty soon, Naten noticed they were entering another valley. He heard the sound of water bubbling, and they crossed over a small creek, the crystal clear water bubbling and flowing over white sand and water worn rocks. Naten bent over and washed the now-dried juice from his face. The water was ice cold. Sarah just smiled and waited for him to finish.  
  
They continued, following the creek until it reached a cliff overlooking another clearing. Below them, the creek plunged over the cliff before landing in a pool a good distance below them and winding it's way through the clearing. Naten could make out a series of very fat tree's growing apart from each other in the clearing. They looked a lot like giant half buried carrots. They had a huge trunk, followed by a comparatively tiny collection of branches sprouting from the top. As Naten watched, he noticed a small figure dressed in green walk out of one. He looked closer, and realized the figure had walked out of a doorway cut into the side of it. Sarah laughed at his expression of astonishment. "The tree's are our homes." She stated. And started making her way down the cliff. Naten stared at the village of trees for a few more seconds, then followed her.  
  
Sarah led Naten through the clearing. Naten followed, staring in amazement at the trees. Each had doorways cut into them, with curtains hanging over them. A lot of the tree's had a pattern of stripes and dots painted onto them. As he followed Sarah, the people who lived in the trees came out to stare at him. They were all children. And they all wore green. And they all just stared at him. He stared back, just as curious as them. He recognized one of them as the girl who had led him through the Forrest.  
  
Finally Sarah led him out of the clearing, and the children went back to whatever they were doing. He followed, stumbling a little as he continued to look over his shoulder at the village of trees. He followed Sarah as she led him on a narrow path that winded its way through what looked like a dense hedge. It was nothing like the hedges that had lined his garden. This one looked like it had been left to grow wild centuries ago. In a lot of the places, the hedge grew over the top of the path, creating a eairy tunnel effect, with only filtered sunlight making it through. Finally though, they came out of the hedge into another clearing. Sarah ran forward with a delighted laugh, and Naten looked in amazement. In front of him was the biggest tree he had ever seen. The tree's in the Forrest had been big, and had been taller, but this one was Huge. It would take him at least a minute to walk around. The chapel of ages would have easily fit under its canopy. As he slowly entered the clearing, he could feel the tree's presence. As he and Sarah made their way to the trunk, he began to feel like he felt like when he was in church. Slightly in awe of powers he could almost feel, and somewhat humbled. He followed Sarah the final few metres, and copied her as she leaned against it.  
  
At first all he could feel was the rough bark. Then the presence he could feel before intensified. He almost felt like it was flowing through him. The feeling made him feel exhilarated, as though he had been riding his horse for the first time. He looked at Sarah, who had her eyes closed and seemed to be hugging the tree. As he leaned against the tree, he began to here words. Very deep and slow they were. And only in his head.  
  
'I have been waiting for you Naten.' Naten somehow wasn't surprised. He was too lost in awe. 'So the prophecy has come true.' Naten at first said nothing, but a small frown crossed his forehead. 'Prophesy? What...?' '... There shall be a Boy with two mothers. Death will come for him and his family, but the Boy will be given sanctuary in the Forrest of lost children. The boy will live as a lost child until the world's greatest need...' Naten felt like the voice was quoting from something. And that there was much more being left unsaid. 'I'm to remain here?' Naten would have been nervous, but the presence the tree was giving off made such a feeling impossible. 'Yes Naten. As one of the forests lost children. But there are things we need to change before you can be one of us. You will need to submit to the forests magic. I cannot change you into one of us unless you wish it. Is this your will?' Naten looked down. He thought about the children he'd seen. Mysterious. Ducking in and out of trees. The whole Forrest was their playground. But... They didn't seem to have any concept of death. There seemed to be a lot they were completely unaware of. If he were changed, would he stop being...? The tree seemed to read his thoughts. 'Even after I change you, you will still be you. I will change the outer layers of you only. What makes up your essence will remain unchanged.' Naten was reassured. 'And what exactly will you change?' 'Your memories. No one with memories outside the Forrest can stay here. They mark you as an outsider. Once all that marks you from being outside the Forrest is gone, you can become one with us. You will be fully accepted by the Forrest, and it's magic.' 'All that marks me...' 'Like your memories. Your clothes. Even your name. All the children in the Forrest have gone through this. They all now have Forrest names. Do you accept?' Naten thought about it. The children scared him a little. And becoming one of them scared him a little more, despite the tree's reassurances. But it was the only choice to be made, besides leave the Forrest for the mercy of the barbarians that had killed his mother. 'Ok' He thought. And he began to hear music again. He looked at Sarah, but she wasn't playing. The music seemed to come from the tree itself. And as the music played, the presence he had felt before started moving. Traveling through him. And working little magic's, changing him everywhere. It made him feel... strange. He felt his body rebel against it but fought his instinct, and let the music and the magic continue its work. His sight grew dim and he became dizzy as the magic worked in his head. He almost fell over, but sat down first. Soon enough the magic was done.  
  
The boy looked around. He could remember getting here. He could remember traveling through the Forrest with Sara. But that was all. And all of a sudden, the Forrest seemed more alive. He could see which plants were the healthiest. He could hear the song coming from the tree, even though it currently wasn't in a form he could hear. And he could feel the magic in the song now. Feel it as the song coursing out into the forrest. He remembered feeling it before, but only just. Now he could practically taste it. He looked around, and noticed Sarah looking at him. He looked down, and noticed the foreign clothes he was wearing. They just felt wrong. Uncomfortable, itchy and restraining. He tugged and pulled and got out of them, leaving them discarded on the ground. Sarah fished though her backpack and threw him a old but clean tunic, made from rough cotton. He dressed. He turned to Sarah, and looked at her inquisitively. Then when she did nothing, turned to re-enter the village.  
  
'Boy...' The boy turned to the tree. The Deku Tree he now realized. 'Yes?' 'You still need a name.' 'But I have a..' He could remember knowing his name, but he couldn't remember it now. The boy thought. 'Yes. I need a name.' 'As time passes, All shall know of you.' Spoke the Great Deku Tree. 'And they shall know of you as Link'  
  
Link turned, and entered the village.  
  
End chapter one  
  
AUTHORS NOTES  
  
This is pretty much a prelude to Ocarina of Time. I was trying to write some more of my Zelda series, but I was having trouble with writing Ruto cause I hadn't yet set out her character. So I did so. What makes her tick. Her life, her feelings, how she's treated and all that. And then I started to do that for Link. Only, to do it for him, I had to describe the Kokiri first. At which point I got inspired to write this. At some stage I'll continue, and write the whole of the Ocarina of Time. 


	2. Chapter 2

*Authors Notes*

Well, this has been a long time coming.  
I've never completely given up on this, although at times months have gone by since I even looked at it. Unfortunately, this isn't even a full chapter, its closer to a half or a 3rd of what I want the 2nd chapter to cover. I've got most of it written, I just need to write the end, and a section in the middle which connects this bit to the rest of the chapter. I decided to just post what I have done however, and post the rest as another chapter when I've finished the bridging section.

Although I havn't had any comments (the meat and drink of fanfic authors), I did notice this story was getting quite a few hits... an average of 15 a month or so. This has partially inspired me to keep going at it, even if it is still a glacial pace.

Well enjoy the story, and hopefully I'll have the rest finished some time this century.

*Disclaimer*

I don't own the characters or the world-setting. Although both have been warped so far as to be virtually unrecognizable. When you get right down to it, the characters in most N64 games wern't exactly that fleshed out...

*Story*

Chapter II

"You understand where you went wrong?"

Link nodded.

"Then we'll start again."

Link once more put the flute to his lips, and waited for his next entrance into the Song. In most of the forest the Song was barely noticeable, tickling just on the edge of his awareness, However in some places the music focused enough for it to become instantly noticeable. One such place was in the courtyard of the crumbling castle where he had first met Sarah. She was there now, waiting patiently for him to join the Song with his own instrument. The song swirled all around him. He could feel it. It wasn't yet time for him to play, but it was close.

The music of the forest couldn't be heard out loud. It wasn't heard at all, only felt. Those in tune with the forest felt it, and the messages contained within. Outsiders felt nothing. The tree's, the forrest creatures, even the lost children required the song to survive. It was more spell than song, and its magic flowed from a well buried deep in the crumbling castle located in the forests centre. The Song itself was used by the guardians of the forrest to control their realm. It was used to sound out any information they needed, and relay any instructions the guardians might have. It was used to control the way the tree's grew. The guardians used it to make impenetrable barriersblocking access of sensitive sites to possible intruders. It was used to increase the growth of berry bushes if there was not enough food for the animals, to decrease the amount of predators born when the forest could not support them, and all other matters governing the forest. Any intruders entering the forrest would disturb the Song, and all those who knew the Song's meaning would become aware of it. All that happened in the forrest echoed through the Song, and those who knew the song had the power - and responsibility - to protect the forrest from harm.

And now, he was being taught how to play it.

Learning to join with the song was more difficult then he would have imagined, but that was no matter. The going was slow, and he had yet to stay tuned for more than ten seconds, but he was making progress. No matter how long it was taking, he was making progress.

The music flowed all around him. He couldn't remember how long he had been learning the song. Time didn't seem important to the forrest. One day was much the same as a thousand. He knew there was once a time when he couldn't understand even the simplest of messages through it, but now it was as clear as the instrument in front of his face. A tree five miles from here had fallen against it's neighbor. An outsider on a horse was right on the edge of the forrest, right on the verges of entering. The children were running near the borders of the forrest, waiting to lead him astray if he should. A thousand other details were there, just waiting for him to listen. Only once he had fully understood the messages the Song could convey had Sarah asked him to learn to play it.

And then the time was right. The song opened up for him. He pressed his lips against the opening of the instrument, pressed his fingers into the right holes, and started playing. His notes matching perfectly with the silent Song echoing round him.

As he played, he began to feel his music join with the Song. The music continued silently, and his flute played in eerie counterpoint to it, trilling along, going up and down through the scales and complementing the silent melody. Eight seconds he played. Ten seconds. Link grew elated. Twelve seconds… And then his excitement got the better of him and he lost focus.

Link lowered the flute from his lips, and looked at Sarah for encouragement.

"That's great Link. A new record…" Sarah broke off as a discordant note rang through the Song, shrieking of danger. One of the skull children defending the forrest had just been attacked. The outsider on the horse had entered the forrest and was ignoring the Kokiri childrens magic, so the Skull child had tried to turn him back. Sarah and Link could both feel the rider as he made his way past the badly burned and dying skull child. The dying scull child a constant harsh low note of pain in the song, slowly getting softer as his life faded. The rider a completely new instrument, one neither of them recognized, but unpleasant to the ears.

Sarah smiled at Link, the smile being somewhat forced. "I'll take care of this. You keep practicing, ok?" and ran down into the maze.

Link looked at her figure as she slowly made her way through the maze. He knew as well as Sarah did how serious this was. And she expected him to just stay where he was and practice?

Link waited till Sarah had gone, then made his way out through the maze guarding the temple, keeping track of the outsider through the song as he went. Once he was free of the maze, he merged with the Song to increase his pace. Something all the Kokiri children could do, merge with the Song. Become a physical manifestation of it. Moving through the forest in a sort of dance in time to it. But in merging with the song, you absorbed some of it into yourself and the Song absorbed some of you. You weren't quite all in the physical realm. You no longer had to worry about tripping over tree-roots or fatigue. And all people would see if they were watching was a shadowy blur travelling from tree to tree. The problem with it was you couldn't see or hear anything besides the song. You knew all that happened within the forest, but couldn't narrow down to what was happening in your particular area. This was the opposite of what he had been trying to do with the ocarina. With the ocarina he had been trying to influence the song. Gently making changes to it. Here, he was making changes to himself, to become a part of it.

Link was flowing through the forest, the tree's blurring past. He caught up with the intruder just as he was about to encounter the barrier of thorns that protected the Deku tree. Cautiously, he slowed down. Disengaged from the song so he could see again. Peeked out from behind a tree.

The intruder was riding a horse, and wearing some strange clothing, made out of a material Link had never seen before. It looked a little like the bronzed knives that were sometimes dropped by intruders, but this was the wrong colour, a dark, shiny grey.

The intruder didn't look healthy either. His skin was a grayish color, and his eyes seemed... wrong. The intruder was slowly trotting forwards towards the thorns, as though they posed no barrier. Link couldn't sense any of the other Kokiri kids. They must have fled when their tricks hadn't worked. He walked up to the briar patch until it completely blocked his way. Then he pointed at it, muttered something, and the part of the briar patch in front of him was incinerated in a sudden flash, creating a tunnel through the briar patch just big enough for the man and his horse to ride through.

The intruder kicked his horse into a slow trot and moved into the tunnel. All Link could do was watch silently. The intruder exited the tunnel, and entered the grove of the guardians. Seemingly impervious to the songs of sleep and forgetfulness and confusion which were being woven around him by the guardian trees, the intruder dismounted, walked up to the tree, and placed both hands upon it. Through the Song, Link could feel the tree shudder at the mans touch. The Deku Tree and the man stayed connected for a long time - communicating. From what Link could sense from the Song, the man seemed to be making some sort of demand, and the tree refusing. The man stayed still for so long Link was almost tempted to attack him. But the size of the man. The way he had shrugged off all the magic thrown at him. And what he had done to the Skull child. These stayed his hand. The man radiated an aura of malice. Link didn't want to bring himself to this mans notice. Besides, surely the Great Deku Tree was more capable than him to eradicate the man?

So Link stayed hidden, and just watched. Finally, the intruder broke the connection with a grunt of anger. He reached for something at his belt, and Link felt the magic in the grove intensify in a desperate attempt to stop this man. He heard the Deku Tree in his mind, for the first time ever, scared. "STOP HIM!"

By now Link was filled with fear. But the command from the Deku Tree galvanized him into action. Link merged with the song again, and rushed towards the man, hoping to knock whatever he was holding out of his reach. When he hit the man, he suddenly realized why none of the magic worked. The mans grey metal clothing. It destroyed any magic near him, nullifying it completely. Link screamed as he bounced off it. He had run into the armor while being merged with the song, and felt part of himself unravelling along with the song. The man grunted, and reached for his sword. Link ran, clutching his wounded shoulder and fleeing through the forest, sure that the man was following him, that he was instants away from having a sword planted in his gut.

Behind him, back in the clearing, the stranger pulled a small bottle from his saddlebags filled with a dark brown liquid. He dribbled a few drops onto the base of each tree in the clearing before remounting and preparing to leave.

"I will remove the spell if you give the amulet to me"

And the man was gone

It was now two hours later, and Link was waiting for Sara to come back. She had caught up with him not long after his flight from the Guardian tree's, and told him to wait for her where the river entered the forest from the north.

Link didn't normally come out this close to the edge of the forest, especially this area, where the bones of the mountains occasionally poked through the ground in huge black outcrops. Even the plants here looked strange. Only one or two of the giant tree's could survive here. The rest were much smaller trees, with leaves so big you could use them to keep dry when it rained. Different variety's of ferns wherever he looked, and a thick bed of moss covering all the rocks near the river. Very different from the Forest. It made Link feel uneasy. As though the world here was slightly skewed. The Song felt strange, as though the river and the rock somehow distorted it's sound. The river rushing past him into the forest wasn't part of the Song at all, yet it still traveled through the deepest parts of the forest before leaving it from the south. This disturbed Link the most, the idea of something foreign to the forest reaching so far into it.

He was broken from his musings as Sara slipped into his field of vision. She was carrying her pack, and it seemed much fuller than usual. Link immediately noticed Sarah seemed different.

She seemed to have less energy. Rather than bouncing around like a day old kitten, she was acting more like a cat at the end of it's life, carefully and wearily picking its way over the rocks towards him. The wide, mischievous grin, which she usually wore, was gone, in its place her face was blank, except for a small, sad smile whenever she glanced at him

Sara sat down before Link, and prepared herself to speak.

"That man… The one who attacked the Guardian tree's… He was looking for you, Link. "

Link looked on, waiting for Sara to continue.

"The forest cannot protect you from one such as him. "

"He's poisoned the Deku tree. We have been able to reduce most of it's effects, but it's slowly killing them. He wants us to hand you over, but we won't do such a thing. Your no longer safe here."

Sarah hesitated, then continued sadly

"You have to leave the forest Link."

"But I'll die if I leave the forest. The song sustains me, and if I leave…" Link protested.

"Link…" Sarah put her hands on his shoulders. "There's something I have to tell you."

She put down the pack and unpacked it. Inside were some of the clothing the outsiders wore. But much smaller.

"Try them on Link. See if they fit." Sarah was wearing that strange, sad smile again. As though some little joke of hers had been played out, but had turned against her.

Link struggled into the strange clothing. It seemed very dusty, and it was itchy in places and just plain uncomfortable, but it fit perfectly. He looked at her with a question in his eyes, and Sarah sighed.

"Link, Your not one of us. Your not one of the forests children."

Link frowned. Bewilderment crossed his face.

"Once a woman with a child entered this forest, Link. The child was of the right age, so we removed all that made him an outsider, and he became one of us. One of the forest children."

Link nodded. He didn't ask what had happened to the woman. He and the other children had hunted enough intruders for him to have any doubt about that.

She fished out something from the pack. A lump of smoky amber set in some sort of wood, which she told Link to hold. Then she closed her eyes to concentrate, and started humming softly, holding Links head between her hands as she returned his previous memories.

…

Natan stretched, and sleep slowly ebbed from his mind. He lay there on his back, listening to the sounds around him. Instead of the sounds of the castle waking up however, there was the gentle sound of birds twirping overhead. Instead of the sounds of hawkers in the marketplace there was the splashing of a river nearby. And instead of his soft feather bed, all he could feel under him was leaves and dirt. Sleep emptied from his mind further, and he sorted through his memory's idly, trying to remember what had happened.

They had all gone for a ride. A picnic in the woods. At night.

He pondered this for a while, enjoying the gentle breeze that cooled his face and tried to work out why they would have gone for a picnic at night. The matter was beyond him. He would ask his nurse. He finally opened his eyes. Nothing but the canopy of tree's far above. He couldn't see his nurse. He sat up on one arm to look around, and he still couldn't see his nurse. In fact he couldn't see any signs of his escort. No tents. No fireplace. No horses. No one at all. Except a peasant girl sitting in front of him, looking at him solemnly.

Natan smiled. "Hello girl. My names Natan. Do you know where everyone went?"

The girl silently shook her head.

Natan stood up and turned to leave.

"Wait…"

The girls voice sounded odd. He'd never even seen the girl before but there was something about her. And for just a second, he thought he had recognized the voice. He turned around.

The girl had stood up and was offering him something. He took and examined it. It was a clear piece of amber, set in some sort of hardwood. The hardwood had been carved exquisitely to resemble roots wrapped around rocks. The girl smiled sadly at him.

"Please look after it. It's for… good luck."

"Thank you" said Natan, oddly touched by the gift from the stranger.

The girl looked thoughtful for a second, then spoke.

"If you wish to return to the site of your town, there are people up the river who will guide you. Show them what I gave you, and they will help."

Natan looked at the girl. She didn't act like a peasant girl at all. She acted like his nurse.

The girl smiled a soft, sad smile as he looked at her and lent forward and planted a small kiss on his cheek.

"I have to go now. Good luck."

And the girl turned and walked away.

"Wait! Who are you? I want to talk to you." Natan chased after her, around the tree she had just walked behind… but she was gone. Link looked around. There was nowhere for the girl to have gone. It was impossible for her to have hidden in the time she was behind the tree. A faint memory of his first trip in the forest came back. Of another girl disappearing behind tree's. He looked back into the forest, trying to see into the shadows. A melochony tune started wafting through the tree's, played on some kind of wind instrument. He started backing away. Started heading upstream, away from the forest, and up into the valley carved by the river. Behind him, Sara lowered the pipes from her lips and watched with an impassive face as the boy she had met so long ago walked out of the forest. Once the boy had finally walked out of sight, she turned and left.

Natan slowly worked his way up the valley. It was more of a canyon than a valley. Steep sides that sometimes turned to cliffs. And the river surged down it, bouncing over rocks, around corners and off edges, filling the air with spray. All the rocks and the edges of the river were covered in a thick green moss. Ferns carpeted wherever the rocks didn't cover, and smallish tree's grew wherever they could find purchase.

The going wasn't too difficult for him, and he almost found it fun. He was almost running up the gorge. Hopping from rock to rock, trying not to slip in. Slipping between tree's and through the ferns.

But no matter how strange the surroundings, Natan couldn't enjoy them. His mind kept going back to the forest. To his strange awakening. He tried to keep his mind off it. Couldn't stop worrying at it.

What had happened to his nurse and his mother? Why had they wandered off like that? Why couldn't he remember what happened?

And who was that strange girl?

The girl had said the people up the river would get him back to his parents. Once that happened he'd find out what was happening. In the meantime, he just had to not think about it. Not think about the strange forest, and the even stranger girl.

At least that's what he tried to tell himself. But it didn't seem to be sinking in. It all kept worrying away at the back of his mind.

Natan plodded on, slower now. Climbing the ledges the small river sometimes cascaded over. Walking between the large rocks which had rolled down the hillside at some stage. He must have traveled for two or three hours when he noticed something out of place. There was a bridge across the river up ahead of him. A rope bridge.

When he reached it, he wasn't much the wiser. There was no sign of who made it. There was no one in site. There was only the bridge and an old path leading back down the river on his side, and further up the river on the other. Wondering just how long he'd been hopping rocks and climbing ledges while the path ran on beside him, Natan crossed the bridge and continued along the path.

The path led halfway up the hillside, and weaved its way between fallen rocks and tree's. Here and there small riverlets of water ran down the hillside and over the path. Ferns grew either side of him, and above him tree's cast their shade. The path showed signs of being maintained, though it didn't look like it was used all that often.

As Natan continued up the path, the valley gradually got steeper and steeper.

The path itself stopped travelling straight up the canyon, and took to zigzagging up the steepest bits. The river below roared, and spray flung itself up as it crashed its way over boulders and meter-high drops. There wasn't many tree's here as there wasn't enough soil. Moss grew everywhere but the path though, and ferns grew above the moss.

Natan had been travelling for about half the day now, and was wondering just how far away these people were, and if they had any food.

The river turned a corner in front of him, and as he approached it he heard a steady roar gradually grow louder. Much louder than the roar of the river below him. He turned the corner, and stopped in shock. The canyon ended in a sharp cliff as tall as the highest steeple, and the entire river was coming over the edge of it. The roar deafened him. And the entire place was covered with thick spray. He was still many river-lengths away, but the spray still hit him in the face. Still in awe of the waterfall, and glancing at it every time he got a chance, Natan continued.

But the path didn't have that far to go. It weaved its way between moss-covered boulders, before ending on a rocky beach in front of the plunge pool. A few boulders had been moved down onto the beach and seemed to act as seats. Besides that, there was nothing to show where people went once they got this far.

Natan sat on one of the rocks and wondered what to do now.

The plunge pool in front of him wasn't inviting. Most of it was a boiling maelstrom, concealed in spray. The rest had currents which would sweep you straight into the rapids.

The cliff itself seemed way to high to climb. The path ended here, and no matter how Natan looked at it, there wasn't any further way to go on.

He was taken out of his musings by the knife pressed against his throat.

"Outsiders are NOT welcome here"

The voice, though full of malice, was young and reedy.

Natan went to turn but the knife twitched a little, so he stopped.

"Tell me. What are you doing here?"

Natan hesitated, and the blade at his throat pressed a little deeper.

"I'm looking for a guide." His voice came out steady. He was quite proud of that.

The knife at his neck twitched again.

"You lie. You're a spy, aren't you? You've come to spy on our people."

"No. I don't even know who your people are. I was told I would find a guide to take me back to my lands." Natan said, shaken by the sharp object against his throat.

"I'm supposed to show them the jewel hanging from my neck."

The knife stayed in place, and a hand reached around for the jewel at his neck.

"This is… you came from the forest? Who sent you?" The malice was gone from his attackers voice, replaced with surprise.

"A girl from the forrest. She was there when I woke up. My nurse and my mother had…" Natan frowned.

"… Had gone… somewhere. The girl told me I could find someone to take me back to the castle up the river if I showed them the medallion."

His attacker was silent for a while, then spoke.

"You need to see my father"", and the knife was removed.

Natan turned slowly, and saw the oddest creature he had ever seen. His attacker looked a lot like a cross between a fish and a person. It had no hair or clothes, and large black eyes with no pupils. Its skin was a mottled blue and white, and seemed quite thick. Its hands were webbed, and when he checked, its feet were too. It also had three diagonal slashes on the side of its chest, which opened and closed every time the thing breathed.

"Never seen a Zora before?" the creature asked sarcastically.

Natan mutely shook his head.

"Well, follow me… What is your name anyway?

"Natan" he muttered, still getting used to the strange creatures body.

It turned, and clumsily waddled over the boulders towards the cliff face, then hesitated.

"You need to be blindfolded"

___

Natan allowed himself to be blindfolded, and the Zora led him into the water. They paused neck down in the water.

'Hold your breath'

And he was dragged under and through the water. He immediately stiffened, but tried to relax. It wouldn't drown him, would it?

Would it??

Natan started struggling, and managed to break loose from the Zora.

Straining upwards, he broke through the surface of the water. He breathed in huge lungfuls of air and ripped the blindfold from his eyes, his panic subsiding. The Zora popped up in front of him, glaring at him.

'Humans are only aloud in here Rarely, and the first thing you do is try to get away from me? Do it again monkey boy, and I'll slit your throat.'

Natan ignored her, looking around. He was surrounded on all sides by very high cliffs. He was in a pool at the bottom of a chasm in the mountain. The sky was a ribbon of blue far above him, blocked in places by overhanging tropical tree's and ferns. The canyon walls were water-smoothed, and offered no handholds. The canyon floor was a gloomy place; what sunlight made it down was reflected off the black rock of cliff face. There was an equal mixture of ferns, moss and pools, all draining down into the pool he was standing in. Turning around, he noticed the water draining under the cliff through the hole he had been dragged through.

A sharp pain in his leg bought his attention back to the creature in front of him.

'Listen when I speak to you.'

It kicked him again.

'Now follow me. My father needs to see that amulet.'

The creature started working her way up the canyon, wading through the pools, climbing out the other ends of them, and walking past ferns. As they moved, more of the creatures emerged from the pools, falling in behind Natan as a honour guard. Or perhaps they were just gawking. These were fully grown. Some male, some female. The men carried flint knives, or spears of sharpened wood, the woman carried woven baskets with speared fish in them.

They looked at Natan suspiciously, and several of the men kept their hands on their knives. Natan got the feeling they didn't like him much. The younger fish-monster led the procession slowly in the dim twilight up the canyon. When they got near the top end of the canyon, the water monsters fell back, letting Natan and the little monster wade slowly forward alone. Before them stood another of the water monsters, staring at them severely. He waited till they approached, then spoke to Ruo angrily. 'You better have a good reason for bringing him in here.

Ruto gestured towards the amulet hanging from Natans neck.

"I think you should look at that, father'.


	3. Chapter 2point5

**Authors Notes**

Well I'm still not entirely happy with it, but this section is more or less finished. I might eventually go over some sections in here and replace them though.

There is one more section I want to finish for this chapter, but don't hold your breath – It'll likely be a long time before I come back to this fic.

**Chapter 1.8**

The creatures scowled at her, but waded closer to peer at the Natans amulet. 'The amulet of the forest' he murmured, pulling back.

He looked at Natan suspiciously. "Were did you get that, human?"

Natan looked at the creature and spoke. 'I was given this by a peasant girl in the forrest. My mother was having a picnic in the middle of the night in the forrest and I got lost.

The creatures frowned and looked at him. 'Whats your name, boy? Who are your family?

'Natan. My family rule Kakariko town. Could you lead me there?

'Natan you say? Natan of Leyak and Rabuf?' The creature was looking at him with something approaching awe.

'Yes. My mothers Leyak, my fathers Rauf and I'm Natan.

The Zora looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, then turned to Ruto. 'Ruto, can you take Natan back to the valley outside? I want you to look after him and feed him for a few days. I will need to organize a meeting of all the tribes elders, so we can find the best way of… " He hesitated, glancing at Natan.

"…of reuniting Natan with his family."

He then returned Natan's amulet, and Ruto led him back down the canyon. The fish-peaple around him were getting back to their daily tasks, and Natan glanced at them in curiosity as Ruto led him back to the entrance of the canyon. Three were weaving some sort of grass into a rope, another was bashing a rock against the end of a branch lying on the ground – why, Natan had no idea. Once or twice he caught them glancing at him curiously, as they went about their work. For the most part though, Natan had to keep his eyes in front of him, lest he trip and fall. He scrambled to catch up to Ruto in order to ask about the Zora with the rock. She was quite far ahead, When Natan finally did catch up, he asked Ruto what the Zora with the rock had been doing. The little Zora just glared at him angrily, and muttered something about ignorant monkeymen. When they finally reached the end of the canyon, she grabbed his hand without speaking to him, and dragged him through the underground waterway, back into the valley beyond.

__

Natan sighed in frustration. He had been following the little Zora around for two days, and was just about ready to kill her.

For the past few days, Natan had been travelling with Ruto along a river-valley – one branching off from the one he'd travelled up when leaving the forest.

For the past day and a half, she had been keeping him company, despite both of their protests. Ruto had presented him with raw fish and river bugs for his meals, and if there had been anything else available at all he would have turned the unappetising meals down. As it was, it turned out not to be as bad as he feared. At least Ruto made some concessions to him being human – she had gutted and beheaded the fish first.

From the way Ruto had bit into her fish while it was still impaled and wriggling on her spear, Natan figured the fish peaple preferred to eat their prey alive.

They had had their first argument about that – Natan had called Ruto barbaric, eating animals that were still alive. Ruto had responded by calling humans nothing more than scavengers, happy to eat meat that had been dead for days. Ruto then went on to say that a group of people that made their living through farming had to be incredibly stupid – why else would they spend their lives tending plants and animals that grew in the wild anyway? The best way to live was by hunting, which led to a people that were fast on their feet, quick-thinking, and quick to adapt to new situations. Staying in one place was only good enough for those unable to stay on the move – Those who lacked the reflexes to hunt successfully, the endurance to constantly travel to new locations, and the intelligence to out-think animals.

'But that's humans all over, isn't it?' she smirked nastily.

Some hastily thrown mud wiped the smirk off her face.

Ruto froze in shock and outrage. Mud slowly dripping off her face and plopping at her feet. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth opened and closed a few times, like…

Like a stunned fish.

Natan bent over and began laughing. The shock on her face changed to rage, and the little Zora snarled and lunged at Link, who was still laughing too hard to protect himself…

…_Later…_

Natan examined the puncture marks in his leg.

"You didn't have to bite me, you know."

"Well you shouldn't throw mud at me. I am a princess, you know. You should treat me with respect."

"You? A princess? Princess's have a dress. And princesses have good manners as well."

Ruto glared at him. "Shut up or I'll bite you again"

Natan smirked and started to reply.

Ruto moved to get up, growling at him.

"Never mind…"

Later that day, Link caught the attention of one of the Zora's that sometimes passed through the area. It swam over, spear in hand, looking at the human child with curiosity.

"Excuse me Mr… uh… Zora. I was talking with Ruto earlier, and she mentioned she was the princess of this tribe. Is that true?"

The Zora nodded. "Ruto will lead us when her father dies. Is there anything else? I have some fish to catch".

"No. Thank you." And the Zora swam away.

"See?"

Natan scowled. He had hoped Ruto hadn't heard the exchange. Just like her to sneak up on a private conversation.

"Well how was I to know? You don't Act like a princess."

Ruto just made a rude gesture at him – One that she'd learned off Natan – and swam away. Natan stared at her, and absently fingered the row of puncture marks where the little monster had bit him.

He couldn't understand why Ruto was given so much freedom, especially if she was Princess of the Zora's as she claimed. Letting any sort of child run around wild like this one did was barbaric, let alone a princess.

Natan was far from a prince – only the first son of a duke, but his days had still been full of tutoring, and every hour he was awake he had been supervised - by his nurse, by his bodyguards and by his various instructors. He had always hated it, except for the lessons in how to use a sword, but seeing how this so-called princess was, Natan realised how lucky he was in being human. From what he saw, Ruto had no tutors, no bodyguard, no-one looking after her at all. It's no wonder she had become such a brat.

Later, when Natan pointed out his own species superiority in raising children, Ruto was far from impressed, as usual. She asked him what use were the lessons he learned outside of the towns and cities? Did those fancy manners help him catch food? Could he charm the fish out of the river with his guitar playing? Perhaps one of the languages he had learned let him talk to the animals in the forest?

For someone who had no formal tutoring, the little pest sure had a well developed sense of sarcasm.

Natan called her a savage again, and they started throwing things at each other…

By this stage they were both carrying a myriad of small scratches and bruises from their constant fighting. Natan still had the bite marks on his leg, as well as scratches in multiple places, Ruto had a number of bruises where Natan had used his knee's and elbows to good effect. The two continued to argue and fight, showing no signs of getting along. This during the third day.

The two children had been fighting on the bank of the creek. Natan had learned from past experience and got Ruto into a headlock before she could bite him again. She managed to roll into the creek before he could pin her completely though, which is where it all fell apart for Natan. Ruto was a much better swimmer than Natan, and could breath underwater besides. She quickly broke free of the headlock, and was soon latched to Natans back like a barnacle, using her sharp nails – claws really – to stay attached, digging them in every time Natan tried to throw her off. Natan was having a hard time staying afloat with the extra weight on his back, but managed to make it to the shallows where he could stand. He tried shaking her off, but it just made her dig her claws in painfully.

"What are you going to do, monkey boy?" The little Zora crowed.

"I tell you what, apologise to me, and I might just let you go. What do you say?"

Natan gave a wordless shout of rage, and spun around, trying to grab a hold of the pest attached to his back, but in vain.

"Call me common now, monkey boy. Can barely swim, Can't hunt. Sure can't fight. Not much good for anything, are you?"

Natan stopped struggling as an idea occurred to him. He staggered out of the creek, and up onto the bank, Ruto still clinging to his back and questioning his parentage. Natan stepped up onto a rock and deliberately fell over backwards, using Ruto to cushion his fall. There was a muffled 'Oomph' as they hit, and the claws digging into him lost their hold. Natan grinned savagely, and turned to give Ruto some of her own. His anger faded when he saw her though… She wasn't moving, and blood was seeping from the back of her head.

He kicked her once or twice to make sure she wasn't faking, but nothing changed. He scowled, exasperated.

"Lightweight", He accused, then picked her up and moved her under the shade of one of the tree's.

She came to a few minutes later. Her head hurt, and every time she moved it the world lurched about her. She opened her eyes, and everything was a blur. Her eyes focused slightly – Enough to make out a dark shape standing over her. She instinctively moved to lash out at it, but the world spun and the pain in her head flared.

"Quit it, fish face. You need to stay still."

Ruto tensed as she recognized the speaker, but the world swirled around her and she had to force herself to relax.

"Just stay there and don't move. Your heads got a big bump on it."

Ruto had to lay there for a few hours before she felt good enough to get up again, and she had to move slowly and carefully for the rest of the day. The occasional nausea and the world swirling around her whenever she moved too fast were bad enough, but the monkey boy was avoiding her now. She'd followed him a few times, insulted him, but all he'd done was walk away.

She fingered the large lump on the back of her skull, and glared at the human absently. He was on the other side of the river at the moment, apparently trying to spear fish with a broken off stick. Ruto snorted in contempt. He had all the hunting skills of a two year old. As the Zora watched, Natan noticed her looking at him, gave up and wandered further up the river. She snorted.

It was just her luck. Not only was she being asked to baby-sit a monkey-boy, it had to be one of the most irritating ones she'd ever come across. The monkeymen who sometimes came up the Zora valley to trade always oozed charm, complements falling from their mouths with every sentence.The other Zora's weren't as bad, but her princess status meant everyone was always very polite to her – polite and distant. Natan wasn't like that – he was unbelievably rude, and deliberately insulted her. Ruto quite often wanted to seriously maim the irritating creature, but he made her days more interesting, even if all they did together was fight.

Ruto was so busy thinking about Natan, she didn't notice the figure creeping up behind her. The first she knew of it was when rough hands grabbed her around the mouth and pulling her backwards.

Natan wandered through the scrub, thrashing the passing bushes with his stick in irritation. He had almost seriously hurt the Zora… but it wasn't his fault. Sure, he might have been the one who fell on her, and he might have done it on purpose, but it still wasn't his fault. She always started the fights. She kept calling him monkey-boy. She had provoked him. There was no way it could be his fault.

His guilt continued to haunt him as he continued up the creek – Until the smell of a campfire reached his nose. None of the Zora's had used fire, and he didn't know how to start one himself, which meant…

He followed his nose, creeping forward cautiously. In a clearing a few hundred paces in front of him, he could see a camp. There was an old-looking horse, a cart piled high with goods, a tent, and a man sitting at a camp fire, cooking something. Natan crept closer, hiding behind a bush, trying to determine if the man was friendly.

Now that he was closer, he could see that the cart had a lot of fur-skins on it, as well as other provisions. Natan guessed the man was a trapper. The man kept poking something that was hanging in a pot over the fire, and the smell was making Natan's stomach growl. He was tired of fish.

He didn't know if the man was friendly… But then again, he didn't know if the man wasn't. And the Zora's probably wouldn't remain friendly when they found out what he had done to Ruto… and he was hungry…

He was just about to stand up and announce himself when another man burst into the clearing from his right. Like the first man, he was scruffy in appearance, smelt, and looked as though he had spent most of his life outdoors. Unlike the first man, he was holding a squirming and protesting Ruto in front of him.

'Look Trent, got me a water witch' he laughed.

'it's a young'un too. They pay well for those'

The filthy man had one of Ruto's arms twisted behind her back. Every time she struggled, he jerked her arm up, making her cry out in pain.

Natan frowned. He didn't really like the little Zora, but he still couldn't let the two men hurt her like that.

Ruto cried out in pain again, and Natan ran out, waving a stick at them. The two men stared at him blanky as he charged them, the men holding onto Ruto absently as she struggled to free herself.

'Leave her alone' he screamed, and hit the man in the side with the stick he had picked up. The man grunted a bit at the blow, then grabbed Natan.

'Two for the price of one', he laughed. His grin turned into a cry of pain as Ruto bit savagely into his arm, her needle-like teeth sinking deep into his flesh. He let go of Natan, and backhand the Zora, who was knocked dazed to the ground. Natan reached for the stick he had dropped, but the other man grabbed him roughly. The first man nursed his hand, where blood was oozing through the deep bites. He stalked angrily up to the fallen Zora, picking her up roughly by the arm and shook her about. The man who held Natan yelled at him, saying the market didn't pay anything for bruised goods.

The man glared at him. 'Alright, but I owe that little brat something. I say we sell it to Lord Harridan, even if he does pay a little less.

His partner shrugged. 'Long as he don't pay too much less' he grumbled.

'He's so tight with his money it's not funny'.

­­­+++

Ruto looked at Natan groggily as the cart went over another bump.

'Some hero you turned out to be'

Natan scowled at her, but declined to answer, before trying once more to wriggle his wrists out of the strips of semi-cured leather that were tying them together.

Over the last half hour, the two humans had broke camp. Barrels, canvas and trapping equipment all went into the cart next to them. The two trappers were elated about their capture, but in a hurry to be off. Natan cried out that they couldn't take Ruto away from the river – She'd dry out and die. They had talked amongst themselves a while, then rolled Ruto up in a blanket they had soaked in the creek

For most of the day, Ruto was out of it. The backhand across her head had left her semi conscious, and while she moaned occasionally when the cart hit a particularly big bump, she didn't respond any of Natans questions. He was getting worried for the bossy little Zora, something he had previously considered impossible.

That night, the two hunters camped off the trail, some way into the tree's, next to a bubbling brook. They made do with a small camp fire and were careful to keep it shielded from the trail. They rinsed the blanket out in the stream, before draping it over Ruto again.

Ruto was in a bad way. She seemed feverish, and didn't seem to know where she was. The rinsed-out blanked seemed to help a little. Her skin had cracked where it had dried out, and a network of red lines appeared every times she moved, making her cry out in pain. When the Trappers saw her condition, they talked amongst themselves for a while, then tied her to a tree near the brook, with the rope long enough for her to get into the water. Ruto was too far gone though. They untied Natan, and connected him to the same tree, and told him to nurse her while they set up camp.

Natan carried the feverish creature into the brook, and lay there with it, pouring water over it's skin awkwardly - His hands were still tied together. By the time the two hunters had set up camp and cooked their dinner, Ruto had begun to respond. Her skin was still cracked, and had a pinkish tinge to it, but it was no longer scaling. Ruto's breathing had eased a great deal, and she had regained some awareness of her surroundings. It obviously still hurt her to move though, and she was very weak. She just lay there in his arms, breathing as evenly as she could, while Natan kept her head above water, and ran water over her body. He hadn't liked the little princess up till now, but seeing her hurt like this stirred something in the boy, an empathy towards the hurt creature in front of him, as well as a slow burning anger at the peaple who had hurt her. Children are usually blind to the suffering of others, but the hurt creature in Natans arms awoke feelings of...

Of Responsibility. He felt responsible for the first time in his life. There was no nurse to make things better, no one who could help Ruto except Natan.

Natan didn't like to see the creature hurt. He stayed by it and nursed it as best he could, the trappers raised a tent and cooked a stew. Natan was tired, and weak from hunger himself, but concern for Ruto allowed him to ignore his troubles. The men gave Natan some food once they had finished with their own tea, and gave him food to feed Ruto. Ruto refused to eat though, just listlessly pushing the food back out of her mouth with her tongue. In the end, Natan ended up eating her share.

The two trappers rolled into their tent, leaving Natan to look after Ruto. Although the food had cured most of his hunger, Natan was still exhausted and quite sore from being jostled about in the cart all day. As Ruto rested on his lap, he fell into a half doze. Every so often he would splash water on Ruto's head and shoulders to stop them drying out, but he mostly just lay there staring tiredly at the siluette of the tree's. Ruto had relaxed and somehow fallen asleep. As Natan sat staring at the trees, and Ruto breathed unevenly in sleep, the fire slowly died into embers. Seemingly an eternity later, Natan drifted into an uneasy sleep himself.

He couldn't tell if he was dreaming or not - He kept slipping into uncomfortable, feverish dreams, then back into wakefulness. But, dream or reality, his ears caught the faintest edge of music. The shadows seemed to dance and twist to the strain. In the illogical world of dreams, somehow this was a song he had been hearing his entire life – and something he knew off by heart. As he listened in detached bemusement, he noticed a part of the song was missing. As though one of the instruments was missing. The missing instrument niggled away at him. The opening in the song annoyed him. The song should be complete, and somehow in this half asleep state, Natan thought he could fill in the missing instrument. His hand twitched, but there was no instrument to grab. Without even thinking of it, he began gently humming the missing notes under his breath. They felt right, and his humming grew louder. The notes he hummed rose up and connected with the song, and he felt it surge in response. Before it was a background thing, softly playing on the edge of his hearing. Now the song slowly grew to a roar in his ears. He felt himself joining with the song, and the notes pour from his mouth almost without his volition. Then the part that was Natan was pushed into a small corner at the back of his mind, and no matter how hard he tried later, he couldn't remember what happened.

Trevor woke, something intruding upon his unconsciousness. He pulled the blanked off him, and stumbled in the direction of the singing. It was the kid. The humming creeped him out. It wasn't normal-like. It went up and down, and all over the place, as though it was being hummed to music. He stumbled over to give the kid a kick to shut him up, but his foot went straight through where the kid was supposed to be. He realised it was a shadow he kicked... not really the kid at all. The humming disappeared. Only it didn't - it just changed where it was coming from. Before, it had seemed to come from where he thought the kid was. Now it seemed to come from everywhere.

There was a rustle behind him, and he turned to see the boy he'd just try to kick, leaning against a tree and grinning at him.

Trevor narrowed his eyes. No snotty nosed brat was going to make a fool out of him. He leapt to grab the kid, but the boy stepped sideways and slipped under his arms. Trevor turned again, and saw the boy leaning on another tree watching him, seemingly unconcerned. He heard a giggle behind him, and saw another girl, about the same age, dressed in a cotton tunic. She smiled at him mischievously, and said playfully 'Mister, you shouldn't have come here'. Trever stopped and looked at her warily. He had heard tales the forest was haunted. Heard travellers who ventured into the forest never returned. He and his partner had even had half-seen glimpses of monsters in the forest. They had always kept to the edges of the forrest - Not so deep that the things in the forest would attack them, but still further in than the mounted patrols would venture. The appearance of the girl made him realise he was in deeper than he had realised. 'Brent' he called out nervously. 'Brent, can you get up:?' He didn't take his eyes off the girl. Brent grumbled a bit, but finally made it up, and over to where Trevor stood. His cussing and complaining stopped when he saw the girl. Brent wasn't as familiar as Trevor with the legends, but the appearance of the girl from nowhere, and Trevors obvious nervousness, something was wrong. The girl and the kid they had bought with them were both looking at them, apparently enjoying their discomfort.

Trevor looked at Brent, making sure he was there, then spoke to the girl. 'Look, we didn't mean to come in this far. We'll just go, ok? We'll leave all our stuff and go'.

The girl frowned at his words, then pouted. 'But I want to play with you. You can't come in here then not play.

'Kid, you can play with the water-witch if you want' he motioned to the unconciouse Zora. 'She's all yours. Just let us go.

The girl barely spared the Zora a glance. "She's no fun to play with. She's sleeping. " The girl grinned up at Trevor cutely. "I want to play with _you_."

Brent looked at the girl. She didn't seem that fearsome. Even if the girl was some forest monster, it was still a lot smaller than them. Trever seemed terrified of it, so he tried. He walked up to the girl, and squatted in front of the girl. 'What do you want to play?' he asked.

The girl raised a finger to her mouth, thinking about it.

'Uummmm...'

Again, she turned that cute, somewhat creepy smile upon him. 'How about 'chasey'? You run, and I chase you. Brent absently noticed the girl was carrying a small copper knife in her hand. He nodded to himself. She was much what he expected. There was still a way out though...

Brent lunged forward, bowling the little girl over. A rough hand covered the girl, while his legs pinned the girls hands to her side.

'Try to cast your spells now, witch'

She just looked at him silently, large round eyes staring at him calmly.

A noise to his left made him look up. Trevor had bolted, running into the forrest as fast as his legs could carry him. The edge of the forrest was only ten minutes away, and if he made it out, he'd be safe. Except, with the girl unable to cast spells, there was no reason for him to bolt, thought Brent, annoyed at his partners yellow streak. Then the reason for Trevors flight became apparent. Leaning against tree's in a rough circle around him were more young children in the cotton tunics. they were all looking at him solemnly. Another child stepped out from behind a tree, and he recognized it as the girl he'd just knocked over. He looked down, and found he was restraining nothing more than a piles of dirt, twigs and leaf litter. When he looked up, the girl giggled a little and smiled at him. 'Oh, your good. Playing with you will be Fun!' They all smiled a small smile that was not a smile, and started walking towards him. Brent noticed they all carried the copper dagger he had noticed on the girl earlier.

'But what about Trevor?' he stammered, trying to buy time. 'shouldn't you chase him? You can play with me later'.

The girl shook her head. We'll chase him later, after you'. She said. Brent remembered the edge of the forrest was only ten minutes away, and thought rather bitterly that at least one of them would get away. It must have shown on his face though, as the girl frowned slightly and said 'No, he won't get away. He ran the wrong way.'

Brents heart sank, and he turned to run as they closed in with their knives.


	4. Chapter 28

Natan woke slowly. He moved slightly, and a myriad of small aches and pains made themselves known to him. He frowned in his half awake state, trying to work out why he was so sore. He tensed as yesterdays events returned to him – being captured by the trappers, the long day spent in the back of the cart, the poor condition of Ruto by the time they had stopped.

The trappers…

He stayed still and listened, but could hear nothing besides the normal forest sounds. Perhaps the trappers were still asleep? He opened his eyes a slit, and moved his head slightly. He couldn't see any sign of them. The fire was ash, and the trappers tent lay with the door flaps closed. There wasn't any signs of movement from within. He quietly turned his head the other way, and still couldn't see them. Perhaps they had drunk too much, and were sleeping it off? Incredibly stupid of them when they had two prisoners, but Natan wasn't going to let the opportunity pass him by. His hands were stiff and sore, and the need for working quietly make things take a lot longer than it otherwise would have, but after a good ten minutes, he had the rope around his wrists untied. He managed to sneak a knife from a pack next to the fireplace without the trappers waking up, and crept over to Ruto.

She looked a lot better this morning. The unhealthy tint to her skin was gone, and except for a few patches of her skin that had a fine network of red lines running over it, she looked fine. Her breathing was a lot more even too – there was no sign of the ragged breathing that had worrried him last night. Placing one of his hands over her mouth first, he shook her shoulder gently. She moaned slightly, and opened her eyes. She didn't yell out like Natan had expected, just looked around quietly, trying to locate herself. Her eyes eventually locked onto Natan, with his hands over her mouth, then flicked to the knife in his hand. She tensed, and then started struggling wildly with the ropes that bound her hands. Natan rolled his eyes, and took his hands away from her mouth.

I'm here to help you, moron'

Ruto stilled, and Natan cut the rope holding her to the tree.

Although Ruto looked a lot better, she was still very weak. She needed Natan to support most of her weight as they limped from the clearing. They could see the bag with the food in it resting on the cart, but it was right outside trappers tent, so neither of them were willing to risk grabbing it. Slowly, and with empty stomachs, the two limped from the clearing and into the forest.

They didn't make it far the first day. Even with Natan supporting her weight, Ruto needed to rest often. Natan wasn't too worried about the trappers following them though. The trappers had seemed scared of the forest the day before, and the creek Natan was following led deeper into the forest.

Natan had been a bit worried about going deeper himself – He still couldn't remember how he had been separated from his mother and nurse, and that girl he had met on the edge of the forest had been creepy. He'd rather face the uncertain dangers of the forest than the certain danger of the men behind him though.

He stopped worrying a little when Ruto told him the medallion he carried protected him from the forests magic.

The medallion was another thing that bothered Natan. He swore the trackers had taken it off him when he was first captured, but when he had woken up, there it was around his neck again.

They ended up stopping shortly after midday. Neither was worried about the trappers any more, and both were starving. Ruto in particular, since she had missed dinner the evening before.

They spent the rest of the day foraging. Natan didn't know the first thing about it, and quickly had to give up. Ruto managed to spear several small fish with a crudely made fishing spear. The prospect of ungutted, unskinned, un-beheaded fish was even less appealing than the fish Ruto had served him before they were captured, but Ruto was in no shape to help him out. Natan managed to gulp it down eventually, His hunger helping to get over the nausea.

After eating the fish she had caught for herself, Ruto wearily moved to the creek, getting in at a section that was reasonably deep. Within a few minutes she lay sleeping, with only her head out of the water, while the fish in her stomach slowly restored her energy levels.

Natan looked at the Zora sleeping on the bottom of the creek with curiosity, then lay back himself, letting his variouse aches and pains subside.

AUTHORS NOTES:

Yeah, this is taking forever to do anything with, and the updates are getting shorter and shorter. What can I say? Just not as into writing as I used to be.


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